Markus Rissanen 28.1.-13.2. 2005
Stemnotes
The Art of Smiling Orderly
Let us assume a painting were a presentation of painting, a description of its own structure and the manner of its making. If this were the case, every painting in itself would tell us something about its intended meaning. This general principle would apply to all.
In the case of Markus Rissanen, the assumption of a painting being both art and a self-descriptive structure gains particular weight. The motifs in his work reach far beyond the process of painting, encompass more than mere paint. In this sense everything that makes Rissanen's new paintings an immediate treat for the eyes - the unprimed canvas and further reduced colour palette - is subordinated. In other words, as a painter Rissanen is more interested in questions relating to the presentation of the painting than in painting techniques themselves. This presentation is typically defined as clarity and accuracy. It makes things seem easy; after all, we can easily observe the manner in which Rissanen has made his works and can conjure up an image of their maker, should we desire to maintain the belief that a painting describes its creator's manners. The simplicity is deceptive, however.
Do not be taken aback by the paradox between the general presentation of the painting and the presentation contained in the motif that lurks within the works of Markus Rissanen. The artist ensures that his works continue to attract us as paintings, not as teaching charts, although he does not hide his fondness for the latter. The contemplation of visual presentation has its benefits, even at the risk of didacticity. The systematic nature of Rissanen's art and its peculiar taxonomy, bringing to mind the periodic table, start to take form at first glance. Rissanen's skill lies in the works being far from exhausted at this point. His imagery may resemble a strange legend or a diagram for unspecified use. Nonetheless, there are too many parts left open in these diagrams for them to depict anything specific. This asks the viewer the surprising question of whether a finished painting is basically nothing but a presentation on how something might be visually presented?
Should we accept this proposition, Markus Rissanen can be said to construct within his works descriptions of how to present information. He also proves that colours, shapes and other tools of art can be used for that very purpose. By being somewhat pickier than usual in choosing his own tools, Rissanen gets a lot out of little things. Empty diagrams turn into flowers, wordless legends into visual poetry. Rissanen paints not only a hypothetical description of presenting information (the theory) but also produces a new type of visual information (the practice). It should be remembered that above all, information consists of giving form to the shapeless, the informal. In a wider sense, this effort applies to most human activity. Markus Rissanen has defined his goal with slightly greater detail and specificity. He creates paintings in which order and form do not exclude informality and clever play. I believe it is at that point that information is transformed into knowledge we all could use.
Jyrki Siukonen
|
Quantum Evolution, 2004 |
|
|
Urpflanze, 2004
|
Pattern Jam, 2004
|
|
Urpflanze, 2004 |
Branch of Natural Logic, 2004
|
|
Stemnotes, 2004
|
Stemnotes, 2004
|
|
Flow, 2004
|
Circulation, 2004
|
Stumpy, 2004 |
Urpflanze, 2004
|
Plantscape, 2004
|
Urpflanze, 2004 |
Cool Composition I, 2004 |
Cool Composition IV, 2004
|
Cool Composition III, 2004
|
Cool Composition II, 2004 |
Plantscape, 2004
Enlarge by clicking the image. Press images are available at the gallery. |
|
